Saturday, June 29, 2013

This past week the court system has made their decision on the DOMA and sided against it. Now DOMA is the Defense of Marriage Act and basically is tried to defend that marriage was between a man and a woman.

Since the decision, there have been many people from both sides that have come out and said some very hurtful things. Sometimes our passion takes us beyond our reality. We have Christians coming out and talking about hell, fire, and brimstone. While on the other side, the gay community is talking about how Christians are judging them and referring to how Christians are hypocrites.

In reality, we live in a world where God has given us free will. As Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, we have no right to point fingers. We are all sinners and as Jesus told the Pharisees, the first one not to have sinned should be the first to cast the first stone.

As a believer in Christ, I don't agree with homosexuality but it isn't my place to judge them. It is however, my place to love them and show them the love of God. It is okay not to agree with a persons decisions, but by no means should we judge and show hatred towards people.

There is another side of the coin. The ones who are in the gay community and those who support the ruling regarding DOMA have no right to judge the Christian community. As much as your beliefs have been attacked, especially within the last decade, ours too have been attacked for centuries. We have suffered in the same ways as you are now and Christians and their beliefs have no right to be judged either.

Those who judge our beliefs must first truly know what our beliefs are and why we belief them. Our hope is in Jesus and His resurrection. Our beliefs come from the bible, the Word of God, and that what it says is true. To criticize us means you first have to read what and why we believe those things.

The two words the have continued to come up through all of this is "belief" and "community". It is my "belief" that we all can live together in the "community". Do we have different beliefs? Yes, we do but it isn't our place to judge each other when in reality we haven't walked in each others foot steps.

My prayer is that God will shine His light through the Christian community, despite some of the few bad apples that have brought a negative view to it. Let's be men and women who are willing to love and not judge!

1 Peter 2:9

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the d goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Spring is the season where we all are able to get out and work in our gardens and yards. We often see the flowers bloom that we have planted in years past. If you're anything like me, once you plant the seeds of a flower or a tree you wish it would just hurry up and grow. It takes time and patience to be a good gardener.

That is exactly what it takes to be a disciple/follower of Jesus Christ. Often we want to tell others about Jesus, which is planting the seed, and we want to see that person grow instantly. That is where time and patience of the gardener comes into play. Just like the flower or tree we plant years before, it may take time to see those people bloom into the individual that God intended for them to be. Until they bloom, it is up to us to continue to water and give them the care they need until they are able to grow on their own. That could mean praying for/with them, doing bible studies with them. Spending time with them and caring for them is necessary in order to build disciples.

We can't just tell people about Jesus and what Gods Word says and not be willing to put the time in to help them grow as individuals. This could be a lengthy process, but it is a process that is needed to grow Gods Kingdom.